Do You Choose to Be Spring or Fall? Why Practicing Positivity is Essential for a Happy Life.

This day is doomed to fail, I thought, while I stared at the scattered glass on the floor. It was only morning and truly everything was going wrong. I overslept, hit my toe, burned my oats and to top it off, I dropped a glass. Great!

It was obvious, I found myself in a negative spiral and blamed everything but me. Stupid alarm, stupid corner of my bed, stupid oats and stupid glass. Negative emotions were taking over. Stop, I thought. I don’t like where this is going to.

I realized that I was the one causing all the bad things with my negative unconscious mind flow. This day is only going to be a disaster, if I choose it to be a disaster, I thought.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I took another one and asked myself a question: Do I choose to be spring or fall today? I chose spring and stepped out of the negative flow. All was fine again.

Spring or fall?

Do I choose to be spring or fall? I know, it’s a weird question to ask yourself, but actually a rather important one. Especially when you understand the patterns of life. It’s simple, life is either moving towards growth or towards decay. And sometimes, it’s in a kind of neutral state but never for very long.

You see it everywhere in nature. Take a walk through a seasonal forest in spring for example. The forest is buzzing, full of changes, full of growth and full of life. It is nature’s season of creation. Beautiful flowers exist from seeds, life multiplies, animals are born. It’s an upwards spiral, moving towards abundance and beauty.

Take a walk in fall and you will see a whole different forest. Nature is preparing for the lack of sunlight. It’s going into pure survival mode. Instead of creation and abundance, there is decay. Plants won’t bloom anymore and leaves fall off the trees. Animals go to better places or into hibernation. The forest will get quiet, stuck eventually, in a cold empty winter. Life is narrowed down to a minimum.

The patterns of our individual lives are not so different from the patterns of a seasonal forest. We experience cycles too. Upwards and downwards. We can find ourselves in positive flows which will lead to abundance, a sparkling life and to happiness.

We can also find ourselves in negative flows where life will be narrowed down and meaningless. Empty, still and unfulfilling. Sometimes we experience life as neutral but this is just like negativity, a lesser state of mind. It is ok but nothing happens. It will get boring and won’t lead to true happiness and satisfaction.

Although there is similarity in the life patterns of a seasonal forest and a human individual life, there is also one big difference. It’s the reason what’s causing the upwards and downward spirals. In case of a forest, it’s the angle of the sun towards the earth. Because of the way the earth is moving around the sun, there will be periods of more and less sunshine. In case of a human being, it is our mind that is causing the upwards and downwards spirals.

How our minds can reject happiness

A forest can’t think. Cycles will come automatically. Naturally, without judgment. A flower will never not bloom because it doesn’t feel like it. It won’t come up with excuses to block it’s potential. Once there is enough sunlight, it will bloom. And there will be enough sunlight. For us it is different. We have a thinking mind which is vulnerable for all kinds of emotions. Our selection of thoughts can put us in a upward or downward spiral.

During our lives we create all kinds of thought patterns. These thought patterns are caused by our experiences. Most people identify themselves only with these thought patterns. They think that they are their thoughts. They are not.

There is a consciousness, making these thoughts possible. That consciousness is who we all are in the first place. From this consciousness we are able to choose our thoughts. But if we never realize this, it’s most likely that we become a prisoner of our own thought patterns.

In an unfortunate case, these thought patterns are focused on negativity. Thought patterns have the habit of repeating themselves. So if you became a victim of negative thought patterns and don’t have control, it’s most likely that your life will find itself in a downward and negative spiral. Not something you want because most people prefer a state of happiness. Luckily there is a way of reaching a state of happiness with a positive mind flow.

Focus on positivity!

Just like sunlight is essential for a plant to grow and bloom, positivity is essential for people to grow and bloom. I like sunflowers. Not only because it’s a wonderful flower but also because they always turn their ‘face’ towards the sun. They actually move with the course of the sun and face the light. In order to live a happy life, this is something we should do as well. We have to focus on positivity.

We need to create as many positive thoughts in our lives to get us in a positive upward spiral which will lead to growth and blooming. Barbara L. Fredrickson, social scientist and specialized in the power of positive emotions proves with her studies and researches that it actually works this way. She discovered that there is a healthy positivity ratio. In order to turn your life in an upward spiral you need to experience 3 positive thoughts against 1 negative.

Her broaden and built theory proves that people who find themselves in a positive flow, experience much more happiness in life. They are more open to the world. Therefore they allow more joy in their lives and they notice more beauty. They are more creative and therefore they accomplish more. They’re more social, conscious, confident and have more resilience. One leads to the other and this creates a stronger overall feeling of happiness and fulfillment.

Some people’s lives are frozen because they don’t allow enough positivity in their lives. But just like enough sunlight will melt the ice and let a river flow again, positivity will do this to your life. You will always find life and abundance along a healthy stream of water. Be that healthy stream.

Is negativity always a bad thing? No. Like you have probably heard so often. Without the downs there would never be ups. Without downs you would never be able to gaze at the worlds beauty from above. Negativity is essential too. But keep it in control. Keep the balance.

Be careful that you don’t trick yourself. Sure, fall has is beauty too. It’s melancholia can be attractive. Sometimes the emptiness is wonderful. But if I have the choice and I have, I would rather be a blooming flower than a dead decaying leaf. I would always choose spring. You?

2 Responses to "Do You Choose to Be Spring or Fall? Why Practicing Positivity is Essential for a Happy Life."

I have found that being mindful has helped me a lot to stay balanced throughout the day. When I am able to recognize a negative feeling and to just “sit” with it, my emotions are less likely to overwhelm me and to take me down the spiral. The Headspace application has helped me to do just that.

When something “bad” happens, I also always try to go through the following flow of thought (an idea from Scott Berkun): What happened? How you feel about it? What are you’re going to do next? It helps me to move on, to not keep lingering in the negative and makes it my responsibility to turn things around for the better.

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This is a life changing blog. It is about life design and creating happiness. Once I realized that my life is the outcome of all my choices, I decided to CHOOSE the life I want. A life of freedom and happiness!

From the day I made myself that promise, I have been on a journey. A journey to discover how I can achieve such a life. Change only happens when you take a first step. I took it and I am on my way now. Are you ready to join me?

On My Way To Freedomland is Arjen Calter. He's an inspirator, motivator and life coach. Creating his own happiness and sharing the art of living. Read more..

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Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp